Introduction : situating recurrent mass violenceContested origins -- Maubara and the Dutch East India Company -- Vassalage and violence, 1861-1887 -- The uprising and devastation of 1893 -- High colonialism and new forms of oppression, 1894-1974 -- The end of empire and the Indonesian occupation, 1974-1998 -- Serious crimes and the politics of the past, 1999-2012.